Senegal

I made food for Senegal back in May, but just writing about it now. I've been very busy with work lately, so the last thing I want to do after spending 10 hours working in front of a computer is feel obligated to spend more time working on something else. Still doing the cooking portion, since we still have to eat! I've just been reserving the cooking for weekends if it's something that's a little more involved.

For Senegal, I made a tofu version of thieboudienne, normally a mix of fish, rice, and vegetables. The name thieboudienne (also spelled ceebu jen) is derived from the Wolof "fish and rice." The French influence in Senegal is what led to the more common spelling.

The first thing I did was make the parsley and onion marinade for the tofu standing in for the fish. I also included some Senegalese curry powder which I've used extensively in the West African dishes I've made, usually replacing the Maggi seasoning, which is basically just an all-purpose spice mix/bouillon cube.

I baked my tofu to firm it up a bit before marinating it. I find that getting a good bit of the water out of it allows it to soak up flavor more easily. The fish would normally be fried up after marinating.

The next step was to start making the stewed vegetable portion of the dish. The recipe I used said to cook tomato sauce with onions and then add other vegetables.

Once the onions were softened, in went potatoes and some of the excess parsley marinade.

Then carrots and red and green bell pepper. I left that to cook, covered, for a while. Like a long time. But my vegetables were still hard. I have since learned that the acid in tomato can slow down the cooking process. I ended up so frustrated I put everything in the fridge and finished cooking them the next day.

According to the recipe I used, you're then to remove all the vegetables you just cooked. I got most of them out but left some onions to cook the rest of the way in the next step.

To the leftover onions and tomato sauce, I added the rice and some water. I used white jasmine rice, but a shorter grain rice is more traditional.

Adding the marinated tofu on top, I covered the pot and let that cook about 20 minutes until the rice soaked up most of the liquid.

My tofu didn't really hold onto its marinade but that's okay. I think with it being mixed with the tomato sauce gave it enough flavor.

The final product is served with the fish and rice together and the vegetables scattered around on top or on the side. I think I would have preferred the vegetables cut up smaller and mixed in a little more, but the thick cut of the veggies is very common according to most of the pictures out there.

I think I would have enjoyed this more if I hadn't run into the frustration of my vegetables taking forever to cook. My recommendation would be too cook the vegetables half-way before adding the tomato.

Recipes Used: Thieboudienne